Thursday, August 23, 2007

Congress should help unique local stations

By JOSEPH TORRES
You used to be able to drive cross-country and hear different sounds at every stop: classic country in Nashville, soul music in Memphis, zydeco in New Orleans, Tejano in Corpus Christi. Now you can go coast-to-coast and hear the same 15 songs in heavy rotation the whole way. It all sounds the same.

Runaway consolidation has virtually wiped out local music, culture and news on the radio dial. Companies like Clear Channel and Cumulus have swallowed up thousands of stations and piped in cookie-cutter content and canned playlists. Fewer stations employ reporters to cover local news, and fewer local artists are making it on the air.
Read more at:
The Tennessean
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/OPINION01/708230406/1008